Monday, March 28, 2016

Assistant
Professor of Communication, Melissa Tyndall, recently entered the Winter 2016 Sixfold
poetry competition. She came in 7th out of 339 poets. Five of
her poems (Postcards from the Amer River,” “Haptics,”
“Film Studies,” “Aubade,” and “For Our Children, Not Yet Born, I Preserve the
Images of Animals”) were published. They can be found at https://www.sixfold.org/PoWinter15/Tyndall.html.

What's better than a nice walk for exercise? How about combining that walk with some basic fitness activities- such as pull-ups and sit-ups? The Vol State Fitness Trail is now equipped with several fitness stops- simple equipment you can use to boost your workout.

The Fitness Trail is a mulched walkway that runs from the Tennis Courts and along the creek on the backside of the college. It's a lovely trail and a get away from the rush of campus. Here are the new exercise stops that you will find along the way. You can click on this image for a larger view.

I had written part one of this back in December. On March 15, two articles appeared in USA
Today regarding the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW) in Austin,
TX. Reported sessions for the festival
included “Robot Armageddon: AI, Jobs and
Inequality” and “Will AI Augment or Destroy Humanity?” (AI = Artificial Intelligence) One of the
opening day sessions was by Hiroshi Ishiguro who presented a variety of robots
and a geminoid. A geminoid, as the name
implies, is a twin in that it looks like an android but lets a user manipulate
it. Ishiguro proposes that soon
geminoids will take the physical place of humans while being manipulated by a
brain – machine interface. His androids
are used as shopkeepers and TV hosts throughout Japan. He predicts that, “. . . we’ll have a robot
society in the very near future, in maybe three or five years.”

The second USA Today article revolved around an interview
session with the developer of Siri, Dag Kittlaus. Later this year, Kittlaus will unveil Viv, an
open sourced, cloud based personal assistant that will allow humans to talk to
the Internet and the Internet to talk back.
Viv uses artificial intelligence (AI) to learn from each conversation
and create unique search algorithms to become more responsive in the future. Viv will be different from Siri, Cortana, or
Echo by being able to reason. He said,
“Siri was chapter one, and now it’s almost like a new Internet age is
coming. Viv will be a giant brain in the
sky.” Also, during the interview he
confidently predicted that supercomputers might take over for entrepreneurs
using their digital brains to create things faster than humans.

Then, just today (March 22) an article appeared in the USA
Today portion of the Tennesseean titled “Next Job Skill is Adapting to
Automation.” A report from the Center
for Economic Research in Tennessee reveals that “As many as 1.4 million
Tennesseans are at risk of losing their jobs to automation.” According to the report, Middle Tennessee
will be particularly hard hit. Randy
Boyd, Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development said
that the people who are most at risk of losing jobs are those who don’t have
post-secondary skills. The report goes
on to say, “History demonstrates that a shift toward heightened technological
demands of the business community does not likely coincide with declining
demand for labor. Automation of
workplace tasks will displace workers, but not replace workers. Rather than eliminating labor, automation is
likely to reshape the distribution of jobs.”

To reprise the question, “Will a robot take your job?” The
answer is probably, “It depends on your skills,” but it further emphasizes how
technology will change our work lives and our personal lives in ways hard to
imagine. Our students must be equipped
to be lifelong learners to adjust to this Brave New World. (Nod to Aldous Huxley.)

The Sumner County Health Committee has awarded Vol State the
Community Health Leadership Award as the leading Governmental Agency.
They cited the Tobacco Free Campus, Walk Across Sumner, and Healthy Pioneers as
outstanding initiatives. Congrats to all of those who have been working to make
this a healthy place to work and learn. You may remember Vol State was honored
last year with the Healthier Tennessee Workplace designation from the
Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness.

· -Cambridge University researchers create a
“mother robot that can assemble baby robots.”

If robots can do all this and more, “How will we humans add
value?” Former Treasury Secretary
Lawrence H. Summers says this is “the defining economic feature of our
era.” It is the question addressed by
Geoff Calvin in his recently published book, Human are Underrated (Penguin Publishing Group, 2015) and the
subject of his article in the August, 2015 issue of Fortune magazine.

While we in higher education often concentrate our teaching
on technical skills to prepare the next generation of robot creators, builders,
and programmers, Calvin offers that we must also develop some very human skills
for the future.

The article lays out that human skills will be in demand
because ultimately we want a human to take responsibility and we want humans to
meet us on an interpersonal level. Even
though the diagnosis may have come from a computer, we want a human doctor to
communicate that to us. We want judges
to render verdicts even if an algorithm could do it better.

An Oxford Economic research firm found that “employers’ top
priorities include relationship building, teaming, co-creativity, brainstorming,
cultural sensitivity and ability to manage diverse employees . . . “ Oracle groups vice president Meg Bear is
quoted in the article as saying, “Empathy is the critical 21st
century skill.”

So as we produce graduates that are technically capable and
possess appropriate professional skills, we must also cultivate their
relational skills or else they are just robots.

There’s a nationwide push to
get more women interested in math and science fields. That means getting girls
involved at an early age. It will be a highlight of the 15th annual
Vol State Science and Math Expo this year. There will
be special sessions for girls to explore what it means to be a scientist and
mathematician.

“Women in Math is an activity that
recognizes distinguished women mathematicians,” said Parris Powers, assistant
professor of Chemistry. “The hands-on event uses different polyhedrons and will
challenge participating girls to observe geometric patterns.

From that they will be able to
derive an important mathematical law.”

Girls and boys will enjoy
learning with fun demonstrations that teach basic scientific principles. The
Science and Math Expo will have more than fifty hands-on activities for kids and
parents. There will be demonstrations covering a wide range of subjects from
biology to physics. Those activities will include LEGO engineering and
astronomical viewing in the Fisk-Vanderbilt Planetarium.The Expo is designed for kids from kindergarten through middle
school. Many of the activities are put together by Vol State math and science
students, who gain a new perspective on science and math education. This year education students joined in the
projects.

“I’m excited to watch two
classes of students from different disciplines collaborate, each bringing
their own level of expertise to discover and create a math or science experiment,”
said Dr. Penelope Duncan,
assistant professor of Early Childhood Education. “The
organic chemistry students demonstrate knowledge in science inquiry and
education students incorporate the instructional methods and
create lesson plans- truly a team approach.”

The Vol State Science and Math Expo will be held on
Thursday, April 7 from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. It will take place in and around the
Wallace Health Sciences Building- North on the Vol State campus at 1480
Nashville Pike in Gallatin. The event is free and open to everyone. For more
information call 615-230-3261. www.volstate.edu/expo

“Remembering Our Fallen”
is a stark reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by fallen military members
from the state of Tennessee, killed while wearing our country’s uniform in a
war zone.The photo memorial, which
includes military and personal photos of each of Tennessee’s Fallen, is
traveling throughout the state and will be coming to Volunteer State Community
College. The sponsor of the memorial is Vol State Student Veterans of America.

This memorial, and 17
other state memorials representing half of our country’s Fallen since 9/11/01,
have been created by Patriotic Productions, a non-profit organization
headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The
goal is to complete a memorial for every state.

“Remembering Our Fallen” will be on display
from March 28th at 2:00 PM to April 1st at noon at the Wood
Campus Building at 1480 Nashville Pike in Gallatin. For more information visit RememberingOurFallen.org.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

For many of my years in the classroom, I lamented the fact
that students in trouble in my classes refused to come during office hours for
help and advice. I did all but beg them
to come and still it was “crickets.” Finally
a wise and experienced faculty member offered some insight. My colleague reminded me that for 12 years of
the students’ academic experience, there was only one reason to go to someone’s
office. They were in trouble! Consciously or unconsciously students
associated going to the office with being sent to the Principal.

Now I learn there is even more to the story. Dr. Courtney N. Wright is an Associate
Professor in the College of Communication and Information at the University of
Tennessee. (Go Big Orange!) Her research interests are in relational communication, conflict management, and instructional
communication. In regard to the
classroom she says, “I subscribe to the perspective of teaching as an
interpersonal relationship. And a
positive relationship helps provide a foundation for dealing with inevitable
difficult dialogues in the classroom . . .”
In a paper titled, “Examining the silence of academic disappointment”, (Journal of Scholarship of Teaching andLearning. Vol 13, No 5. Dec. 2013 pp 46 – 60) Dr. Wright offers that, “. . . a failure to discuss disappointing grades
is a failure of education in some respects.”

In this study
involving 257 undergraduates Dr. Wright found students’ reasons for not
discussing disappointing grades with instructors fell into categories
exemplified by the following quotes:

·I didn’t think I would gain anything from it.

·I felt that it was mostly my own fault for not
studying well enough.

·I understood where my failing were.

·It was the first test and I was getting to know
her style of exam.

·He (the instructor) is extremely intimidating.

·I was not convinced that she could adequately
explain it to anyone else but herself.

·While the grade was less than I expected, it
still wasn’t terrible.

·I deserved the grade.

·Primarily the grade wasn’t that important to me.

·I was not comfortable enough to go up and
explain my stance whether I’m right or not.

·The lines were always very long.

·I don’t know why I didn’t talk to the
instructor.

Situations like this are why proactive advising is so
important. Students’ misunderstandings
and reluctance are an opportunity to teach them skills that will benefit them
throughout life.

Things we can do to help students are to:

·Be aware of immediacy – the perceived physical
or psychological distance between communicators.

Warmer weather is bringing out the
bike riders. Volunteer State Community College has a fun ride for a good cause
coming up. The third annual Vol State Cycling Classic, organized by the Vol
State College Foundation, will be held on Saturday, May 14 and features three
different rides, depending on ability and interest. The routes travel through
scenic roads across Sumner County.

There will be a 15 mile Fitness
Tour; a 33 mile Half Metric Century Tour; and a 63 mile Metric Century Tour.
The tours will start and finish on the Vol State campus in Gallatin. There will
be rest stops along the way for food, hydration, first aid and restrooms. The
Metric Century Tour will leave at 8 a.m. The Half Metric will depart at 8:15
a.m. and the Fitness Tour will get underway at 8:30 a.m.

When riders finish, the college
will have an event with barbecue, beverages and live music. Changing facilities
and showers will also be available.

“The after ride party is maybe the
best part. We have great food and our students and faculty groups provide
wonderful musical entertainment,” said Vol State president, Dr. Jerry Faulkner.

The ride cost is $40 in advance
registration and $45 on May 13 or 14 at the site. Riders will get a t-shirt and
a goody bag. Only riders who sign up by April 22 are guaranteed to receive a
shirt in their size of preference. Route maps for each tour and a link to the
registration page can be found at www.volstate.edu/cycling.

Sponsors for the ride thus far
include Business Credit Reports, Christian Brothers Automotive, Bluegrass
Beverages, Biker’s Choice, and Road ID.There
are still opportunities for sponsorships. For more information about the ride
and sponsorships contact the Vol State College Foundation at 615-230-3526 or
email deb.daugherty@volstate.edu.

Music, art, literature and war are
on tap as subjects for an exploration of the early 1900’s in the KEY Lifelong
Learning Program at Volunteer State Community College starting in
August. There are several lectures scheduled and each has multiple meeting
days. The fee to enroll in one or all of the lectures in the series is $49. The
lectures start the week of August 3. Everyone is welcome to register to attend.
The topics include: “The Harlem Renaissance;” ”Popular Music and Art: World War
I Era;” and “World War I – The War to End All Wars.” If the discussion of war
makes students tense, they can also study “Mindfulness-Based Stress Relief.”

KEY stands for “Keep Educating
Yourself.” The classes will be held at the Wood Campus Center on the Vol State
campus at 1480 Nashville Pike in Gallatin. People can register by calling Vol
State Continuing Education at 615-230-3358 or visiting in person at the 300
Building, room 106, on the east side of the Vol State campus. For a complete
list of lecture series dates and descriptions visit www.volstate.edu/lifelong

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Entertainer Gary Jenkins will bring
his blend of music, comedy and celebrity impersonations to the Educate a Woman
luncheon on April 22. The event raises money for scholarships for women at
Vol State. Tickets are not required, but there is a
suggested minimum donation of $40 requested at the door. Last year the event raised
more than $34,000. This year Educate a Woman will be held at the Long Hollow
Baptist Church Worship Center at 3031 Long Hollow Pike in Hendersonville. Registration
starts at 11 a.m. and the lunch and program at 11:30 a.m. The Summa Cum Laude sponsors
for Educate a Woman 2016 are Ms. Sue’s Medspa and Carpenter Cancer Center at Sumner
Station. To register and for a list of sponsor opportunities visit www.volstate.edu/educateawoman

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The Vol State Gallatin Campus

The Vol State Insider is produced by the Office of Public Relations. It's a newsletter blog designed primarily for faculty and staff, although everyone is welcome to view and comment. You can contact us at pr@volstate.edu